Vice President's five-day visit to Ankara begins on Monday

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Newsonair : Vice President's five-day visit to Ankara begins on Monday - All India Radio

Vice President Mohammad Hamid Ansari is leaving for Ankara on a visit to Turkey tomorrow. During his five day visit, he will hold delegation-level talks with members of the Turkish Grand National Assembly led by Camil Cicek, Speaker of the Turksih Grand National Assembly.

Our correspondent reports, during the week, Mr Ansari will also visit the historical provinces of Konya and Nevsehir. He is also scheduled to take part in a business forum at the Turkish chamber of Businessmen and Industrialists at Istanbul.

AIR correspondent reports, India is poised to scale up its economic and strategic ties with Turkey during the Vice President 's visit. The two countries are exploring the prospects of setting up a Free Trade Agreement to boost economic ties. Trade ties between India and Turkey are expanding with the bilateral trade touching 4 billion US dollars in 2010.

Over 112 Indian companies have set up their business in Turkey with investments in areas ranging from infrastructure and automobiles to IT and consultancy services. Vice-President's visit will provide an additional impetus and momentum towards further strengthening of the broad-based, multifaceted and comprehensive partnership between India and Turkey in areas of mutual interest.

 

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Hamid Ansari to visit Turkey to strengthen trade and commerce ties - India - DNA

Vice President Hamid Ansari will be undertaking a six-day bilateral visit to Turkey starting from Monday that will further strengthen trade and commerce ties between the two countries.

Ansari will be accompanied by a delegation of Indian businessmen, and will participate in a Business Forum at the Turkish Chamber of Businessmen and Industrialists, Istanbul. This will be the first high level delegation to visit Turkey after then prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's visit to that country in 2003.

Ansari will meet Turkish president Abdullah Gul and hold discussions with prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. He will also hold delegation level talks with members of the Turkish Grand National Assembly, led by its speaker Camil Cicek.

Ansari will also be accompanied by minister for social welfare and justice, Mukul Wasnik, senior CPI-M leader Sitaram Yechury and MPs Ranjitsingh Vijaysinh Patil, Vijay Pal Singh and Imgrid McLeod.

At a media briefing Secretary (West), Ministry of External Affairs, Madhusudan Ganpathi said whole gamut of regional and international issues will be discussed during the visit. India, he said, which will strengthen cooperation in IT, automobiles, engineering and infrastructure sectors.

For Ansari, the visit will have an added personal resonance as his great grand uncle, M.A. Ansari, had led a medical mission to Turkey in 1912 to provide aid to the Turkish army in the Balkan War.

 

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The Hindu : News / National : Counter-terrorism cooperation figures high in India-Turkey talks

India and Turkey on Tuesday agreed that greater international cooperation was needed to counter the scourge of terrorism that is affecting both countries during bilateral talks that also reviewed regional and international developments including the upcoming Istanbul conference on Afghanistan.

Afghanistan issue

During his meetings with top Turkish leaders, Vice-President Hamid Ansari reiterated New Delhi's position that any solution to Afghanistan must be led by its people with Ankara recognising the role being played by New Delhi in assisting Kabul in reconstruction. Mr. Ansari also briefed the hosts about the recent visit of Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai to India during which both countries signed a strategic cooperation pact.

The Indian vote on Syria in the U.N. Security Council also figured prominently during the meetings as Turkey shares open borders with the country.

The Vice-President conveyed India's deep grief over recent terror attack in Turkey. Both countries have a Joint Working Group and a strategic dialogue. National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon is scheduled to visit Turkey early next year.

Bilateral relations

Briefing media on the meeting with Turkey President Abdullah Gul, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Speaker of the Grand National Assembly Cemil Cicek and Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, Secretary (Public Diplomacy) Pinak Ranjan Chakravarty said the talks reflected the warmth in the bilateral relations and added contemporary content to the historic ties between the two countries.

Rousing reception

While Turkish Parliament that is in session accorded a rousing reception to the delegation led by Mr. Ansari, on a personal note Mr. Cicek presented him with a photograph of his great granduncle Mukhtar Ansari, who led a medical mission to Turkey in 1913.

The Turkish side also evinced keen interest in the electronic voting machines being used in India.

 

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news.outlookindia.com | Foreign Interventions Must End in Afghanistan: Ansari

Vice-President Hamid Ansari today underlined the need to end "foreign interferences" in Afghanistan, saying a lasting solution to the turmoil has be based on a sovereign choice of the government in the country.

Returning from a six-day visit to Turkey, which he described as "very serious and substantive and satisfying", Ansari also said the government in Ankara was in different ways trying to bring conflicting groups together and they have an old relationship with Afghanistan.

The Afghanistan crisis had come up dominantly during Ansari's discussions with the top Turkish leadership in Ankara on October 11.

Ansari said that there are two parts of the Afghan question related to the peace process -- that which has be initiated by Afghanistan itself and the other about international interferences which must come to an end.

"There has been regretfully for this reason or that reason a great deal of foreign interference. No solution of Afghanistan problem can be stable unless this foreign interference comes to an end first," Ansari said while replying to a volley of questions on the Afghan crisis.

He said the upcoming conferences on Afghanistan in Istanbul (to which India has been invited) as well as in the German capital Bonn this year will have to address both sides of the problem.

"..First in which the Afghanistan has to take lead and the other in which international committee has to commit itself to the creation of structures and commitments which will eliminate foreign interference in affairs of Afghanistan in its territory," Ansari underlined.

Asked whether he was referring to US interferences, he said: "All foreign interferences. I am saying in all directions. Everybody will need to cooperate with Afghanistan".

Ansari underlined that solution to the Afghan problem has to be a sovereign choice of the government in Kabul and by Afghanistan itself.

The Vice-President said that as far as starting the peace process within the country is concerned, India is fully supportive of the plan laid down by Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

He stressed that India is of the view that whoever participates in it has to accept the constitution of the country and discussions will be within the framework of that constitution.

"We have said the peace process has to be transparent inclusive....A solution to the Afghan problem has be Afghanistan-led only. That is very very important, Afghanistan should decide what their destiny would be," he underlined.

Acknowledging Turkey's efforts in resolving the Afghanistan issue, Ansari said they may be doing it though different frameworks, including the NATO framework because they are represented there.

"We have our own perception. I briefed the Turkish in great detail what we think can be done. They have invited us to the conference in Istanbul after which there will be another conference at Bonn," Ansari said.

India was not invited for the last Istanbul conference on Afghanistan.

Increased Indo-Turkey cooperation on Afghan issue including conflict resolution is likely after the conference at Istanbul.

Asked about the situation in West Asia vis-a-vis Turkey's initiatives there, the Indian leader acknowledged that the Turkish leadership has taken a great deal of interest on what happened in Tunisia, Libya, Egypt and what is happening now in Syria.

Ansari said the demand for political reforms in West Asia and Arab nations is a process initiated by the public. "our view has been that it is for the public to decide....We do not think it is open to anybody to prescript what should be the form of government in any other country," he said in reference to the widespread violent anti-government protests.

On the issue of cooperation between India and Turkey in counter terrorism, he said: "They have suffered terrorism, we suffered terrorism. We both suffered from the same disease and therefore want to get rid of it."

Ansari dismissed questions when asked whether Turkey may play a role in bettering Indo-Pak relations.

"We can talk to Pakistan in five different languages. So there is no need for anybody to play a role...We can talk to each other in Hindi, English, Punjabi, Urdu and may be in few other languages as well. There is no place for anybody to play a role between us," he said.

On the talks held in Turkey, the Vice-President said there is a serious desire on the part of Ankara to have a substantive relationship with New Delhi.

He said "serious and substantial" issues were discussed between him and Turkish President Abdullah Gul and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Ansari also held delegation-level talks with members of the Turkish Grand National Assembly, a separate discussion with its Speaker Camil Cicek and Turkey Foreign Minister.

"We touched upon a great detail of subjects both on bilateral relations and exchange of views on a whole range of subjects on what was happening in West Asia and North Africa Afghanistan and the related subjects," he said.

"With the foreign minister, there was a very detailed resume of Turkish thinking on some of these issues," Ansari said.

 

[thakur_ritesh]

what i have found absolutely fascinating and revealing is the presence of 112 Indian companies in turkey.

what route does india use for trade with turkey? iran, EU or sea?

in case iran route is used, can turkey be used as hub to push across economic activity in east europe, or will that have to be only done through the EU route?

this is another relationship which has seen quite a transformation over the past one year, all credit to the UPA.

is it possible to get an insight on how does PM erdogan and his party view india, relations with india? and in all this where does pakistan fit in. i think pakistan angle needs to explored since when one talks about ksa, turkey and china, there remains a definite pakistan angle.

 

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I would guess that its the Sea route via the suez canal. We don't have land connectivity as such. Trade with CIS countries is also done through transit trade through Turkey.

Since Turkey is much closer than other EU countries, I guess it can be safely used to push trade through Eastern Europe. GoI is already promoting it as a hub for CIS countries with recent India-Turkey-CIS meets.
India-Turkey-CIS forum to focus on trade, JV & investments

I think again, during the Cold war era, Turkey-Pakistan ties were very close as they all came under the US-led umbrella. Turkey is afterall a member of NATO. India on the hand was leaning into the soviet camp. The 90s also had some serious disagreements with India on Kashmir and Turkey supported the EU resolution to sanction India on HR abuse charges.

But later Turkey-Pakistan relations starting having issues with the support of the Taliban. Turkey was supporting Uzbek and NA factions in Afghanistan in opposition to Pakistan. With the coming of Erdogan's AKP, Turkey has started looking towards the east more earnestly rather than following just the US/EU lead.
Under the Vajpayee-led NDA, the initial breakthrough was made.

A 2003 Atimes article on Vajpayee visit to Turkey shows the change in relations.

Asia Times -

The recent visit of Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to Turkey further consolidates the growing relationship between the two secular republics.

While Turkey's population is 99 percent Muslim, India has an 84 percent Hindu population, although both prime ministers belong to religion-oriented parties that face resistance from the secular establishments. The premiers, though, could learn from each other and be an example to other developing democracies.

Apart from a call on Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer and other meetings with senior officials, Vajpayee held extensive talks with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in which they discussed the international situation, with emphasis on terrorism and the current situation in Iraq and Afghanistan. The two sides signed agreements on setting up a joint working group to fight terrorism, and on enhancing cooperation in science and technology, and information technology.

On Afghanistan, both countries expressed identical views, saying that they were concerned with the re-emergence of the the Taliban. When asked about the West blaming Islam as the source of terrorism, Vajpayee told the Turkish Daily News that "we totally dismiss the proposition that any religion is a source of terrorism. Such arguments seek to discredit one of the great religions of the world. No religion prescribes violence against innocent people. Our battle is against extremist elements who misuse and misinterpret religion to justify terrorism and incite violence."

Erdogan commented that terrorism "could not be linked to any religion, race or nationality". "It is a phenomenon. There has to be a common platform to fight it," he added. "It is not that terror is terror when it comes to our country, and not so when it is in some other country ... we should not be creating artificial terror, terrorists and terrorism."

In a significant departure from its earlier position, Turkey refrained from even discussing India's relationship with Pakistan, or the Kashmir dispute. "Our relations with Pakistan or the Kashmir issue were not mentioned by the Turkish side, which is in sharp contrast [to before]," said an official.

A more recent summary of Turkey-India relations is given in this IDSA brief. Just quoting some relevant sections below, those interested can read the entire brief here http://www.idsa.in/system/files/IB_IndiaTurkeyRelations.pdf

Turkey and India: Looking Beyond Cyprus and Pakistan?

History is the mirror of the future. A strong historical connection between India and Turkey exists dating back to the medieval era and fostered with the late 19th and 20th century interaction between the two. The help of Indians in the Independence War of Turkey in the 1920s is still one of the most recalled one in Turkish memory. Indeed, the original finance for the biggest bank of Turkey, Turkiye Is Bankasi, came from India.

However, Turkey and India had different preferences during the Cold War, one sided with the West and the other led the non-alignment movement. Since the establishment of diplomatic relations between India and Turkey in 1948, political and bilateral relations have been usually characterized by warmth and cordiality. However, now with the leverage of Cold War gone, a new definition of bilateral and global political cooperation is needed both at regional and international levels between Turkey and India.

A general picture indicates that Turkey has looked at India through the prism of Pakistan, and India has done so through Cyprus and strong Turkey-Pakistan relations. At a minimum, such conceptions are now outdated to examine the new existing developments between the two, because political, economic and societal relations have undergone a deep transformation. At the political level, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's visit in November 2008 and the February 2010 visit of President of the Republic of Turkey, Abdullah Gul to India with a huge delegation have emphasised Turkey's interest in India. The Indian response has been mild so far mostly due to Turkey's approach to Pakistan.

It is clear that the new Turkey is no longer interested in formulating its Asian policy based on Pakistan as it was a decade ago, therefore "the Pakistan factor today does not exist as an overriding determinant in Turkey's South Asian policies." Turkish officials are worried about the future of Pakistan as a possible failed state as much as India does. Turkey has softened its pro-Pakistani approach on the Kashmir issue realizing that it is important to build up a coherent and comprehensive relationship with India and develop a holistic Asian policy.

The fact is that New Delhi and Ankara have drawn closer even as Turkey's traditionally good ties with Pakistan have unravelled following the latter's support to the Taliban and its indulgence of Islamist radicals who destabilize Central Asia. Turkey has since reversed its support to Pakistan's position on Kashmir, moving from a call for a plebiscite under UN supervision to stressing the importance of India-Pakistan bilateral talks to resolve the issue, which is by and large closer to India's position. On terrorism and security issues, the post-9/11 era marked the beginning of a changing security environment for Turkey and India. They have begun to move closer on these issues and started to cooperate and take various steps towards a more substantive partnership. Today, the Turkish understanding is closer to the Indian approach in opposing all kinds of terrorism without any reference to 'root cause'.

 

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An extensive speech by VP Ansari in Turkey at the Mevlana university convocation

Vice President Conferred Honorary Doctorate for International Relations by Mevlana University at Konya, Turkey | Lattest Educational News from India